This story is about a truly uncommon player battling through an unfortunately all too common injury. After a stellar four years at the University of Notre Dame, including the 1995 Div. I National Championship as a freshman, Shannon took on the challenge of a professional career overseas with Saarbrucken, a club in the German women’s Bundesliga. It was not the smoothest of transitions and she briefly left the game and Germany to return home, just in time, as it so happened, for the launch of the WUSA. Drafted by the San Diego Spirit, Boxxy’s meteoric rise to national team stardom began when she was traded to the New York Power two seasons later. With Germany and the Spirit in her past, Shannon found a personal trainer and a new never-quit attitude to ensure that New York would be the perfect meeting point for everything to come together. The next season she started all 21 matches for the Power and her tenacious defensive play, now her trademark, was impressive enough to garner a spot on the All-WUSA First-Team, as well as shot with the WNT. She didn’t waste any time. Not only was she named to the 2003 Cup squad despite only having two caps to her name, but she went on to start all five matches and was one of three Americans named to the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup All-Star Team. The rest is a beautiful history.
Until this summer, that is. In July, upon returning to play following hip surgery, Shannon tore her ACL (as well as her MCL), an injury which female soccer players are reported to be four times more likely than male soccer players to sustain. Privileged with a relatively injury-free past for most of her career, Boxx approached rehab as just another one of the many challenges in the game she loves, the game she lives.
“Very devastated, that was my first feeling,” Boxx said in a 365 Todays telephone interview. “But once I went through my two surgeries I think my focus then became about getting better. As soon as my first surgery was done I was in PT physical therapy by the end of that first week because I knew that the faster I could bend my knee, the faster I could get the swelling out of my knee, I could go in for my second surgery, which was a month later, and my process of healing would be that much faster.”
An optimist and fighter by nature, Boxx is also human. “Every day I took it step by step,” she said, but admitted, “I got discouraged sometimes when the simple things seemed so hard and I got so winded doing them. But I knew I was getting better and that was very uplifting…I’m not going to say that there weren’t days I was crying because everything was taking so long, but I had a positive outlook.”
Shannon used her recovery period to spend much-needed time with family, friends and a home in need of some redecoration, but soccer was never placed on the backburner. The injury allowed her to work on the physical and mental aspects of her game that needed improvement. While she focused on bettering her agility and quickness three times a week in physical therapy and supplemental fitness workouts, Boxxy also made sure to show up to every residency training session. She wanted to demonstrate her commitment to the team and be available as a mentor to the younger players who were carrying the torch in her absence.
It was also a chance to take in the game from a new vantage point. “I would say to myself, ‘Oh my god, I could be doing this better,” Boxxy admitted. “I’m telling Leslie (Osbourne) ‘you have so much more time than you think’ and in my head I knew, ‘That’s exactly what everybody was telling me when I was saying, ‘No I don’t!’ You see so many more little things. As a player, you’re going to get better watching the game. I was still working, still practicing in my mind, ‘This is where I should be; this is what I need to do to come back to the ball.’”
And as the well-known saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun. The WNT program brought in a crop of young players that have gone on to an undefeated record under head coach Greg Ryan. “I’m considered old now, which is a little bit strange,” said a laughing Boxx, who is still only 29. “I think I went from pretty young to pretty old very quickly.”
Now the experienced vet is set to learn a few things from her green counterparts like Natasha Kai and Lindsey Tarpley. “One thing I’ve noticed is these young players love to take people on, they’re not afraid to take people on, and they’re not afraid to take touches.”
As she works to gradually return to her usual form, which Shannon admits might take some time, she will be relied upon to fulfill a somewhat uncharacteristic role in the midfield of the unsettled WNT roster. “I want to be able to go forward more, score more goals, help on the other side of the ball,” she said. “I am always so focused on the defensive side—and I want to continue to do that—but also improve my offensive side.”
In the end, however, Boxxy’s exceptional contribution will always be her leadership and attitude. Not one to describe herself in terms of technical skill, this is an athlete that plays the game with a passion and dedication unrivaled by most of her opponents and teammates. In other words, she’s where Joga Bonito meets 365 Todays—tackling hard, winning possession, winning games—in sickness and in health.
“If I had to describe myself, I’m definitely more of a leader on the field. I show by example. That’s more my style. I talk a lot on the field, I demand things of my teammates—If you’re not there, you need to get there, you need to talk, you need to do this. I’m very demanding on the field. I hope my tenacity and that mentality comes out in my teammates because that’s just gonna’ make everybody better. Some days it’s not me bringing it, it’s somebody else and I’m stepping up because they showed it first. I think that’s what a team is.”
And this WNT is not complete without her. The US Women have a long way to go over the next seven months, but it’s reassuring to know Boxxy will be back, leading the climb.
(Check out Shannon’s podcast with ussoccer.com to hear the story yourself)
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